Making sure he was alone, Hunter tiptoed inside the dormitories and walked to his trunk beside the bed. He sat on the bed glad that the dormitory looked empty. The boy smiled to himself and opened his trunk looking for the 'secret' item he had. In order to reach it, he had to take out some books, clothes and other things and place them on the bed. He grouped all his belongings he had to take out; books, clothes etc. neatly and searched the bottom of the trunk for his beloved secret item.

A big smile formed on his lips when he finally grabbed the toy horse, carved from wood. It was a toy that his dad carved for him long ago and Hunter loved it so much that he didnt ever want to go anywhere far without it. And that included his years at Hogwarts. But it was a big secret. Secret because he didn't want to be judged and mocked by people, especially his now Slytherin bother, for playing with toys like a little boy.

But he loved the wooden horse. Was it wrong if he was a little boy from time to time?

Smiling happily, the boy made obsctacles with his books for the horse and started to play on the bed making the toy run on the bed and jump over the obstacles while making horse noises.

The middle of February has arrived bringing with it the cold and snow, you go back to your dorm to work on some homework before dinnertime arrives. It’s becoming a normal, everyday activity during the cold winter months but the sight that meets you when you arrive at your dorm is anything but normal...

You make the long way all the way to the seventh floor and than into the tower towards your dorm and instantly notice that something isn't right. The door itself is hanging off of its hinges, half of it smashed to pieces. When you step over the pieces of the door, you’re met with a ghastly, heart-wrenching sight.

Your dorm, your safe haven during the term time, is in complete disarray.

Feathers float down serenely, the pillows of which they belonged to laying ripped on the ground. The beds have all been stripped of their bedding and pillows and sit there looking naked and unwelcoming. What used to be on the beds have been tossed aside and ripped apart, their contents spewing across the dorm room floor.

That isn't even the worst part of it though. Trunks have been ransacked, the contents of which have been flung everywhere without a care in the world. Clothes, some ripped beyond repair, can be seen laying on the floor and hanging off the four-poster beds. Books have been ripped apart, their pages scattered haphazardly across the floor. Those books weren’t too expensive, were they?

To make matters worse, every bedside drawer has met the same fate as every other item in the room. The contents of the drawers have been flung out of their resting places, some even shattered as they were tossed to the ground, leaving bits of glass everywhere. It seems as if someone has gone to great lengths to search the room.

If you clean up and are observant enough, you might notice that something happens to be missing...

Tenacius made his way back towards the dorms, intending to make a quick drop off of his things and grabbing his coat before heading back out for his Prefect rounds. So used to this routine that he was already at the doorway when he realized that the door was badly damaged. That got him to stop dead in his tracks.

"The heck happened to this--GASP!" his words died in his throat as his vision took in the WRECKAGE that was their dorms. So many emotions all at once--shock and confusion and anger and DEJA VU...

Yes this has happened once before, when he had just started at Hogwarts.

He zoomed towards his section of the dorm and immediately seized his trunk which was the wrong way up, hoping against hope that his equine collection fared better than the last time--

"Noooooo!" he growled as his collection was not only in shambles, but it seems like there were several items missing. He spun around and started frantically looking around the disaster zone, trying to spot any of the broken pieces, just as he had before. Yes he can see that all of his clothes and his school supplies and dorm paraphernalia was destroyed, but they didnt quite hold the same kind of sentimental value as something gifted by his parents since he was 5 yknow?

And then there were screams.

He rushed out and peeked over the common room, he can hear similar reactions over at the girls' dorms. He could imagine that the state of their dorms was just as bad as his. He bowed his head low and he gripped the railing and let out a frustrated growl. He had to think. What should he do? But what about his things? What about his housemates' things? Were any of his fellow Gryffindors in danger??

He had to calm down, collect his thoughts and CONTROL his emotions. After about a full minute he stood straight. Professor Marchand, his Head of House, he must be informed. Not wanting to leave the Common Room in case whatever caused this would come back for more, the leonine lad decided to use something that, before now, has only been let loose around the Defense Practice Room. He held his wand out, closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself, then with the joyousness that comes easily to him filling up and overflowing he murmured "Expecto Patronum."

Brightness burst forth from his wand as a very large, very active winged horse leaped around. "Go get Professor Marchand! We need him in the dorms." Here's hoping that Abraxan patronus does what its supposed to do and not embarrass him like it did with Prof Hirsch

Upon receiving Mr. Salander's patronuses, Gaston rushed to Gryffindor tower as fast as his legs could carry him, silently cursing the fact that one couldn't apparate in Hogwarts. He wondered what exactly had happened. The message had been a little vague. Was someone sick? Or injured? Or worse, dead? That thought alone was enough to bring a lump to his throat. Suddenly memories of the monster in the portal from a couple of terms ago came back to haunt him, and...

NO! He couldn't allow himself to think about that now! He tried to block out the bad thoughts as he neared the dorms, mentally preparing himself for what he might find. He saw the door smashed and off it's hinges. That was an ominous sign...

But it was nothing compared to what lay inside! The beds had been stripped, trunks and drawers upended, clothes ripped, and there were feathers, glass, and ripped-out pages of books everywhere. It looked like a tornado had hit this place!

Gaston was relieved to see Mr. Salander looking unharmed, but it took a moment for the initial shock of the scene to wear off long enough for him to speak. "MERLIN'S BEARD!" he exclaimed when he finally found his voice. "What - How did this happen?" He stopped himself from asking a ridiculous question just in time. It was obvious what happened: the dorms had been ransacked. But who - or what - did this? His mind was already formulating theories, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions and panic. He turned to the prefect, just barely resisting the urge to hit him with a barrage of questions all at once. Maybe he could shed some light on the situation...

He watched his patronus dissolve into the wall then turned on his heel to return towards their dorms. As he made a quick check, room after room he saw they were in various state of ruin, and finally returned to his own dorms and see what he could recover from his belongings. Which was nothing really, at least nothing that needed some really long sessions of Reparo.

Well he got really good with that magic because of what happened last time, and he started to collect various sundry items when he heard his Head of House being as shocked as he was when he first walked in. "Professor Marchand Sir!..." the Prefect turned around and rushed to the man's side. He looked back at the disaster zone and shrugged helplessly in reply "It was already like this when I got here Sir. Its worse than the last time. Now its like whatever the heck caused this did an A+ work of ruining absolutely everything." he could feel the frustrated anger welling up again.

Vi had just left the girl's dormitories when she could pick out two familiar voices coming from the boy's dormitories. Was that Professor Marchand and Ace?

And then she saw the boy's dormitory in front of her. All the pieces of furniture disheveled and carelessly broken.... Her eyes widened at the sore sight of this room. Who could have done this? Was anyone hurt? Ace? She panicked. Solo? Torrance? Carter? She bit her lip. "Not here too..." A sinking feeling hit her stomach and she feared for the worst.

But.... But... she couldn't just enter the boy's dormitory, right? There was an alarm associated with it so if she did then she would set of the alarm and that would cause more chaos than needed at this time. Ah. She'd try knocking first. She was about to raise her hand to knock on said door when she realized that there was barely even half a door to knock on.

She could have sworn that she heard Professor Marchand and her boyfriend talking.....

"Professor Marchand? Tenacius?" she called out to the room. Since the door was already blasted off the hinges then perhaps the charm wasn't working..... She decided to play this safe. She didn't want to set off the alarm and cause any extra panic. "The girl's dorms are like this too...."

Well, he wasn't physically hurt, which was a good thing. Mentally though, that remained to be seen.

He heard some familiar voices in the corridor and left his destroyed dorm to find them. Didn't have to go very far, either, as they were just one floor up at the sixth years' dorm. "I didn't do it this time, I promise," Ronan spoke up in a voice that, quite frankly, sounded pathetic from a sixteen-year-old boy. 'Cause, yeah, he remembered last time too. He'd mostly forgotten about it, but coming up and seeing his room like that... Needless to say, he was having awful flashbacks of his first year, with the hag and everything. Also, needless to say, he looked basically like he'd been sucker-punched in the gut.

Gaston sighed quietly, willing himself not to panic. His students needed him to take charge, and he couldn't do that if he let his worry get the better of him! He turned to Mr. Salander, hoping he would be able to gain some clues from his account of events. No such luck... so the dorms were already ransacked when he arrived. Blink, blink. The professor's bright blue eyes widened at what the prefect said next. "'Last time'? So this has happened before?" he said incredulously. His mind was going a million miles an hour. Did the same culprit strike twice? "Who was behind it the first time?" Any information would be helpful.

He didn't have to wait long to have his question answered. His eyes fell to Mr. Carter as he spoke. Wow, that was... unexpected! He studied his face for a moment; the poor boy looked completely shell-shocked! His expression turned sympathetic. "No, I don't believe you did this, Ronan," he assured him, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright? Do you need to see the Healer?"

Gaston wheeled around at the sound of a sudden voice... a girl's voice. Good Godric Gryfindor! What next?! So Miss Holden was here too. Normally her presence here would be grounds for points loss, but these were extenuating circumstances. He shot her a very appreciative look for not setting foot in the room and setting off the alarm... assuming the culprit hadn't found a way to disable it. His heart sank when he learned the girls' dorms were in the same state. "Thank you for telling me, Miss Holden," he said. "I'll be right there. Do you know if anybody was hurt?"

Then he addressed Mr. Carter and Miss Holden together. "Did either of you see who did this?"

A realization registered on the Prefect's face when the Charms man inquired about this happening before. Right Marchand wasnt at Hogwarts yet at the time "Yeah sure did Professor. I think it was Peeve's handiwork back then, or Miffy. But it wasnt as bad as this. This is vicious. I mean look the beddings were ripped..... its almost like whoever did this was searching for something."

He turned sharply at the sound of a belovedly familiar voice-- but sure wasnt expecting that HERE. "Vi...." he called out softly at his girlfriend, and his face grew more sullen as she confirmed what he suspected the screams were about. Ronan appeared thereafter claiming innocence. "You'd have some Hulk-like anger issues if you did Ronan." he uttered sadly.

Both Professor Marchand's and Tenacius' words did make him feel better somewhat. But there was still the matter that the dorms were completely trashed. Way more than one person could deal with by themselves. And that still made him upset.

"No thanks, professor, I'll be okay. It's just a shock, is all." His voice still had that pathetic sound to it, though. "No idea. I had just come back from the library when I saw this," he replied to the next question. In fact, he'd dropped his bag in his shock and it was still in the doorway of his own dorm room.

What was going on this time?

Yep, Vi had no intention of stepping into the Boys Dormitory at the moment for fear of setting off the alarm. Sure she'd admit that she was a little curious about what would happen and what their dormitory looked like but she was fairly certain that it looked a lot like the girl's one especially at this moment.

Fortunately people heard her. Professor Marchand had asked her if anyone had been hurt. Olivia shook her head. "No, I don't believe so," she said. At least she hadn't heard anyone that was hurt but perhaps someone was unconscious. The dreaded thought crossed her mind and she gasped in fear that someone had gotten knocked out or something. "I didn't hear or see anyone..."

Vi..... The way that he had said her name made her heart sink. She knew those emotions very well that he conveyed by speaking her name like that. And then there was Ace. "Ace..." she spoke in return filled with concern.

And then she heard Ronan's voice. She nodded to him and was about to follow up with a simple sup when Professor Marchand had turned his attention towards both of them. Vi shook her head. "No... I had just returned from hanging out with Etta Kramer by the Lake," she explained.

Gaston listened carefully as Mr. Salander explained what had happened the last time the dorm was ransacked, mentally combing through the information for any possible clues. He thought the same culprit had struck twice until he mentioned the poltergeists. So much for that idea! Then the prefect voiced exactly what he was thinking! "I agree," he said, nodding slightly, "which begs the question what were they searching for?" And more importantly, did they find it? "Have you noticed anything missing?"

He almost laughed halfheartedly when Mr. Salander mentioned the Hulk and anger issues; then his attention turned to Mr. Carter. He was relieved to know that the boy wasn't hurt, at least not physically anyway, but he was still concerned. "I understand; it would be quite a shock for anybody," he said, looking sympathetically back at him. He had been shocked himself when he saw it!

Gaston's expression darkened slightly when Mr. Carter said he hadn't seen anything, and neither, apparently, had Miss Holden. Thier stories sounded incredibly similar! "So whoever did this either got in and out very fast or blended in enough to not get caught..." he mumbled, thinking out loud. His mind was buzzing with possible scenarios. A Disillusionment charm? Polyjuice potion? Perhaps the culprit had used transfiguration? Or maybe the culprit wasn't a person at all?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. There would be time to solve the mystery later, but now he bigger problems. His bright blue eyes darted around the room, taking in all the destruction. "I suppose there's nothing to do now but start the cleanup," he said with a resigned sigh. "I'll help you put the doors back; then I'll have to check on the girls."

He aimed a quick Reparo at the broken pieces of the door, and another spell fitted the door back onto the hinges. "I'd like the two of you to lead the others in the cleanup, please," he said, nodding in turn to Mr. Salander and Mr. Carter. "Let me know immediately if you see anything suspisious or discover anything missing."